


May I have a Balloon, Mr. Shark?

by veldygee



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Erik, Erik is Crushing Harder than a 12-year Old Girl, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Smitten Erik, This Is STUPID
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-21
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 12:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2652032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veldygee/pseuds/veldygee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik hated crowd but since he needed extra money, he applied for a summer job at a local amusement park. The job was simple. He only needed to give out balloons to the people in an anthropomorphic shark costume.</p><p>But then he met an attractive boy who called him Mr. Shark and Erik was lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	May I have a Balloon, Mr. Shark?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [drenchedinapples](https://archiveofourown.org/users/drenchedinapples/gifts).



> So my friend Rae was the devil in disguise who kept sending me plot bunnies. AND I WROTE THIS IN LIKE TWO HOURS INSTEAD OF STUDYING.
> 
> i hope you are happy girl
> 
> I blame you for this lame fic my gosh
> 
> (also this is not betaed because i could care less. maybe when i am on uni break. enjoy guys)

One thing that people need to be aware of about Erik was that Erik hated people. He loved his Ma, he could tolerate few people that he admitted grumpily as his friends, but other than them, he hated people in general. He hated even more when those people were gathering together in a big noisy crowd.

So it was a big surprise for his Ma, (an amusing thing for Emma and a _very_ hilarious thing for Azazel) that he ended up working over the summer at the local amusement park which was going to be overcrowded for the duration of summer. But Erik needed the money. He worked part-time at a repair shop a few houses from his and it paid him quite good money, but he was going to university in just a year so he needed more. He knew he could get scholarship with the grades he received at school, but that alone was not enough. His Ma insisted that she could still send him money, but after all these years Erik would not want to burden his Ma even more. With that thought in his mind, he applied for a second job at the amusement park that always had vacancies during the summer.

Erik's job at the amusement park was to give free balloons at the crowds while wearing a full body-suit costume of a weirdly anthropomorphic shark. It was terrible because of the heat and the fact that he wore for 7 hours per day, but it was so much better because he was not required to be social with people. He interacted with people, yes, but other than screaming children and people asking for photos, he didn't need to speak. He didn't need to _smile._ He didn't need to fake liking his job. Give the balloons away, endure the heat and that was it. The crowd was bearable that way.

But then, on the Tuesday of his third week he saw a really attractive boy arm-in-arm with an equally attractive blonde girl. It was a cooler day and yet when he first glanced at the boy, he felt like his body temperature rose dramatically. Erik was very very glad that the costume hid his face. Because he was gaping like an idiot. But that boy was very attractive in his opinion and it was not every day that he saw someone he considered attractive.

Erik absentmindedly gave the balloons away, but his eyes were all focused on the attractive boy. As the pair got closer, Erik noticed how blue the boy's eyes were and the flush of his cheeks that made the freckles on his skin stood out even more. His lips were rosy red which was curled up in a small sincere smile. There was thin layer of sweat glistening on his forehead with some strands of his hair sticking to it. Erik never had this overwhelming urge to know someone like this. The boy looked up from his conversation with the blonde girl and the smile on his face grew wider when his eyes were focused on Erik. Erik could swear that his heart skipped a beat at that smile even though he knew logically the boy only saw his shark costume.

“Hello--” God, Erik knew right then that he could listen to the boy speaking all day with voice like that. “May I have a balloon please?” said the boy politely with a slight accent—English?—and friendly tone. The boy said the word 'balloon' very cutely and the fact that Erik managed to associate someone with cute probably meant that he had gone way too far, but Erik could not even get mad at himself. Because the boy was just very attractive upclose.

“Oh, Charles, what do you need a balloon for?” asked the blonde girl besided him. Erik was ecstatic as he learnt the boy's name and silently he handed Charles the blue balloon that—his mind supplied—would suit his eyes very well.

“We are in the amusement park, and I think it's just appropriate no?” replied Charles good-naturedly. He took the balloon from Erik's hand and smiled at Erik through the costume. “Thank you, Mr. Shark. Have a good day!”

Charles and the blonde girl walked away then as Erik nodded dumbly in reply. He could only helplessly watched as the pair went on their way. Erik handed the balloons in his hand to people around him, but he gave no thoughts to it anymore. His mind was occupied very much with Charles. The girl was probably his girlfriend or something and Charles was probably not interested in men at all, or he could possibly turned out to be an asshole, but Erik illogically just could not care. He was very attracted to Charles and he wanted to know about him. His Ma taught him that if he wanted something, he needed to put effort and pursue it.

Erik knew that he still had his job to do, but after three weeks of working 6 days a week, he could slack just this one day. He left his spot and began to walk around the amusement park to find Charles.  He was almost desperate as he walked around aimlessly for almost 20 minutes (while still handing the balloon to people who asked him for it) but then he spotted Charles and the blonde girl who may-or-may-not-be-but-most-likely his girlfriend, sitting at a bench eating ice cream cone. The blue balloon that Erik handed him earlier was tied on his left wrist. Erik stared with only slight guilt as he handed balloons at spot nearby the bench. It didn't take long for both Charles and the girl to finish their ice creams and then stood up to wander again. Erik was very not subtle, but he quickly followed them while his mind thought very clearly how to start a conversation at the boy who probably had a girlfriend already and who didn't even know his face. Erik could probably deemed a creep. But he was not a creep, was he?

Somehow his indecision and his mental dilemma led him to follow Charles and the blonde girl around until almost the end of his shift. From time to time, Charles seemed to glance behind and so did the girl. They took some rides, they bought food and drinks, and yet Erik still didn't have any idea how to struck a conversation. Erik wanted to pull his hair in frustration, but his weird fins/limbs shark costume and his shark head made him unable to do so. It would also make him lose his grip at the balloons—which he only had about 15 left.

It took him by surprise then when he turned around and suddenly found Charles right in front of him with a serious yet curious expression. Erik yelped and cursed inwardly at the blind spot that the shark head costume had. He didn't realise that Charles was walking to his way. What was Charles doing standing in front of him like this though? Erik didn't have any idea. The blonde girl was standing a few metres away, with her arms crossed across her chest, having a similar expression on her face.

“Excuse me, Mr. Shark. It has caught mine and my sister's attention that you seemed to have been following us around. Or have you not?” asked Charles without any malicious tone, simply curiousity. Erik felt his heart fell as he repeated the words in his head. His stomach was heavy. He indeed had been following Charles and—his sister! The blonde girl was his sister!--around and he realised that it was very creepy. If the situation was reversed, Erik would be very much in rage. Erik didn't know how to answer that. In his current panic state as his brain realised how creepy he had been, Erik shoved the rest of the balloons at Charles' direction, turned around, and sloppily ran in his shark costume, straight to the staff room.

Erik got inside and removed the shark head and took a deep breath as he sat down, staring numbly at the tiles in front of him. He had been acting very creepy and while Charles was gorgeous and there were his Ma's words, Erik was sure what happened today was not what Erik's Ma had in mind when she told him that. Erik wanted to dig a hole and curl in embarrassment because that was humiliating.

The knocks at the  staff room startled him and yet before he could properly stand up or say anything, the door was opened and there was Charles with balloons in his hand.

“Umm, excuse me—oh,” Charles stopped and just stared at Erik in expression he could not read. Erik felt his face flushed in shame, but he was pretty sure his face was red enough after wearing the shark head for hours now and so he was slightly relieved.

“Um, this is strictly for employees,” Erik stammered lamely. If his friends were here, they would be laughing very hard at Erik. Erik wanted to slam his head repeatedly to the wall. His words seemed to catch Charles off guard though.

“Ah, yes. It's just that you ran and entered here so I just...” Charles seemed to be at lost for words. This was probably because now he realised how pathetic Erik was. Oh. Erik needed to apologise, did he not?

“I am sorry,” Erik blurted. Charles blinked curiously. Erik continued before Charles could say anything. “I didn't quite realise, but indeed I've followed you around and I am very sorry. It was very creepy. I just—um, never mind.”

“Just?” Charles prompted and Erik knew he could not lie. He had humiliated himself enough today. What was wrong with one more?”

“I just find you very attractive and I want to talk to you,” answered Erik almost without any breaks in between his words. He expected an expression of disgust or something, but what he was given was a chuckle and a very amused smile.

“Raven, my sister, told me that we were being followed by 'Mr. Shark' because he was trying to ask one of us out. I told her she was wandering too far with her imagination but I never imagined her to be correct,” said Charles, his face was still very amused. “So, was giving me these balloons what you wanted to do?”

“I... panicked,” Erik replied feeling if that was even possible, to be even more embarrassed. Charles' smile seemed to grow even wider though.

“When is your shift finished?” asked Charles unexpectedly. Erik furrowed his brows in confusion.

“In about 15 minutes?” Erik swore curses at himself as he somehow managed to answer that like it in enquiry tone. He now must have looked like an idiot.

“I would not mind to wait and then maybe we could have dinner at the nearby diner?” asked Charles smiling widely, cheeks quite flushed. Erik's brain seemed to have short-circuited.

“W-what?”

“Umm, you were planning to ask me out on a date right? Or umm, maybe you were not? Gosh I--” Charles babbled in clear embarrassment. Erik's brain still hadn't quite followed what had happened, but he knew that he needed to clear any miscommunication and told Charles how very interested he was.

“No no! I mean, yes I wanted to ask you out on a date. I just... don't understand?” Erik finished lamely.

“I think it was very endearing. It never hurts to simply have dinner together—umm, I don't even know your name,” Charles smiled in embarrassment that just made him look very adorable. Erik didn't know that his mind was capable not only to associate a person saying certain word as cute but also to associate something—someone in this case—as adorable. Erik didn't believe in love at first sight, but if it existed it probably felt like this.

“My name is Erik.”

“And mine's Charles. I will see you in 15 minutes then? I am going to call my sister to just go home without me,” said Charles. Erik nodded and weakly smiled back at Charles as the boy walked out of the staff room. Erik simply stared at the door with what he knew must be a very stupid dopey smile, but he could not care less.

He loved amusement park.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for how lame. i just need more awkward-end-up-as-stalker!Erik


End file.
